A tour of Høgskoleveien 2, and its weird Scandanavian chairs

We’ve moved!  This apartment was furnished to us thanks to the frankly extraordinary NTNU International Researchers Support office, who provide support, the språk kafe, and social events for the non-Norwegians in the NTNU community.

Our apartment is newly renovated, after being taken back from student housing/condemned.  Apparently, it used to be quite the party building.  Google Maps has pictures from its seedier days (the basement unit in the white building, which you can’t see through the weeds)!  Zoom in!  It looks like hell!

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!4v1504688625992!6m8!1m7!1sWkJeEvuL4ssnZ-oT-IwbJg!2m2!1d63.42099595183659!2d10.40028178535087!3f62.08289210580371!4f2.9957594436207984!5f0.7820865974627469&w=600&h=450]

It looks better now, and the residents are commonly asleep by 10pm.

More importantly, it is EXTREMELY Scandinavian.  Below is a series of features of our new home, along with an authoritative ranking of their Scandinavian-ness; read on to see what it’s like to live in an IKEA showroom.  We start with…

The front door

Outlets, a keypad (instead of a key), an energy-efficient floodlight with brightness sensor.  The future shoveling is intimidating, but this is heavily offset by the fact that the stairs are heated, to melt off snow as it falls.  Our one concern is that the door opens OUT, meaning more than a couple inches, and we’re locked in (we did a brief exploratory study, and we will be able to get out the windows if necessary, though not without attracting attention from the many passersby).  Let’s root for that heater!

Scandinavity: two stars

Once in the front door, you encounter:

The entranceway

In here, we have a slate (?) floor, a coat closet, an intercom for any visitors at the front door, a bewildering number of switches for lights and electrical outlets, and a shoe rack.  The shoe rack is an essential part of every Scandinavian home, as shoes are always removed upon entering nearly any building (for example, many are shoeless in academic buildings, though it’s hard to tell who is shoeless because they’re Norwegian, and who is shoeless because computer scientists make weird decisions).

Also in this room are three of our five thermostats (we have four rooms).  One of them is clearly to heat the floor in the bathroom.  The remainder (two different kinds!) are largely inexplicable, both by us and by university housing.

Scandinavity: three salted cod

If after walking in the front door, you turn right, you will encounter…

The bathroom

Towels by Ikea (everybody at the gym has exactly the same towels, which can make things difficult).  Heated floors.  Sensible faucet/sink/drawers.  Washer/dryer all-in-one unit.

Scandinavity: two silent public bus rides

Through the entranceway is…

The living room

A long couch with blankets!  A wood stove!  A TV!  Two vaguely unsettling coffee tables that remind me of the game Set (same shape and number of legs, different heights and colors).  A low, wide Scandinavian chair that is completely unlike the shape of any Norwegian person, yet is confusingly comfortable.  ANOTHER low, wide Scandinavian chair over which Allison has draped a faux animal pelt.

Scandinavity: Roald Amundsen

Thanks to the open floor plan, from the living room, you can also easily see…

The kitchen and dining rooms

 

Induction stove, an oven, dishwasher, fridge, no microwave.  Pots, pans, serving utensils, table setting for six.  Four kinds of trash cans for assorted recycling.  More weird stools at the counter.

Scandinavity: going shirtless when it’s 65 degrees

Finally,

The bedroom

Individual duvets!  A hall o’ closets!  The sounds of frolicking drunk youths long into the night!

Scandinavity: Minnesota

And that’s it!  We’re delighted!  If you come to visit, you can sleep on the couch, or on the cot that Allison will overengineer for you.